If 8,144 men and women, 1,004 engines and 27 helicopters can’t control the massive fire just north of Los Angeles after a dozen days, we best cowboy up and learn a few things.

First and foremost, there’s a revolutionary new tool that predicts fire threat levels well before the arrival of Santa Ana winds. More on that in a minute.

Some 27 million trees died in California in the last 12 months, according to a new study by U.S. Forest Service officials. That brings the state’s total to 129 million dead trees — what firefighters call fuel for wildfire.

December and January — not October and November, as many believe — are peak months for powerful Santa Ana winds, the phenomenon some call “devil winds.”

Above normal fall temperatures, below normal precipitation and multiple days of devil winds throughout Southern California have created perfect conditions this month and next for hellfires.

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows — Santa Ana winds blow northeast to southwest. But you do need to prepare if you want to live.

Earlier this month a fire alert flag flies in the wind at the headquarters of Irvine Regional Park in Orange as Santa Ana winds continued to blow. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG file)

“It’s basically uncontrollable” if a fire occurs during a major Santa Ana, warns Tom Rolinski, senior meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service and a plain-speaking man. “It’s basically getting people out of the way.

“Get your cellphones charged, be sure your car has plenty of gas and have an escape plan,” he advises. “We’re at the height of the Santa Ana winds season.”

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Fortunately, there’s a slew of things you can do to vastly increase your chances of survival.

Rolinski points to the relatively new government website that forecasts fire danger in several zones including Los Angeles-Ventura and Orange-Inland Empire.

Called the Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index, the free website, sawti.fs.fed.us, uses a comprehensive state-of-the-art program that gathers weather data as well as information on dead and live fuel moisture and the greenness of grasses to create a six-day wildfire forecast.

On an interactive color-coded chart and map, yellow is marginal (fires may grow rapidly), orange means moderate (fires difficult to control). But when the chart shows red (fires very difficult to control) or — yikes — purple (uncontrollable fires) it’s time to consider evacuation plans.

On Thursday, Dec. 14, the Santa Ana Wildfire Index for Orange-Inland Empire as well as for Los Angeles-Ventura county predicted marginal winds Friday, Saturday and Monday, and moderate winds Sunday.

Tuesday, the index says, will be calm.

“It’s a whole other ballgame when we get to red and purple levels,” Rolinski allows. “It’s a tool for both the fire agencies and the general public so we can prepare ahead of time for these kind of events.”

High winds with recent rain offer little problem, the meteorologist explains. “The odd thing about (the Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties) is that if we’d gotten significant rain we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

Having Santa Ana winds several days in a row is common, Rolinski offers. But he reports that this month’s stretch of more than a solid week of high winds was unusual.

Unfortunately, experts indicate we may see more of the same. Atmospheric Data Solutions states, “There will be an above normal number of Santa Ana wind days for both the December and the December through February periods.”

Meteorologists with something called the Southern California Geographic Area Coordination Center blame this winter’s La Niña for bringing more bad news.

“Precipitation over the Pacific Northwest is above normal,” states a Coordination Center report, “while the Southwest remains drier and somewhat warmer than normal.”

The study goes on to explain those conditions “may keep large fire potential above normal over Southern California past the first of January.”

The result, the report says, is that there is more dead brush, less new growth and wildlands can burn faster.

In many respects, the Southern California Geographic Area Coordination Center is the central nervous system for a constellation of state and federal agencies that literally work side by side in Riverside to coordinate wildfire efforts.

The center includes the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of the Interior and CAL FIRE. Along with coordinating efforts with local agencies throughout Southern California, the agency covers eight national forests, nine CAL FIRE units, eight National Park Service sites, three wildlife refuges, the Tule Indian Reservation and portions of two Bureau of Land Management districts.

Mike Dunn is a public information officer with the U.S. Forest Service and works out of the coordination center in Riverside. “With no rain in sight,” he says, “we are ramping up with more resources.”

Dunn and his colleagues also ensure resources are coordinated and dispatched throughout the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. Currently, much of the work is aimed at fire suppression.

“We’re preparing for more winds,” he says, “and the threat and possibility of fire.”

Whether you live on the edge of wildland or miles from wilderness, experts ask residents to make their own emergency preparations. On preventwildfireca.org, there are extensive and specific suggestions ranging from how to help infirm family members to handling horses (please, unlock stalls).

Here are basic checklists:

To prepare

Have fire extinguishers and train family how to use them (check expiration dates).

Ensure family knows where gas, electric, and water main shut-offs are and how to shut them down.

Keep an emergency kit at home and in your car. Include three gallons of water per person and food for three days, a flashlight, radio with batteries, extra clothing, first aid.

Maintain a list of emergency contact numbers near or on your phone and in your emergency supply kit.

Evacuation plans

Come up with several different escape routes from your home. Practice them.

Have an evacuation plan for pets and animals, including horses.

Designate an out-of-area friend or relative as a point of contact in case of separation; also have an emergency meeting location outside the fire.

If all that seems like too much of a hassle, consider the Thomas fire. It has consumed a quarter-million acres, damaged or destroyed at least 904 homes. In other recent area fires, dozens of horses burned to death.

David Whiting is the award-winning Metro Columnist at The Orange County Register. He also can be heard on radio, has served as a television news anchor and speaks frequently at organizations and universities. He previously was an assistant managing editor and has received Columbia University’s Race and Ethnicity Award, National Headliner awards and Sigma Delta Chi’s Public Service Award. He recently was invited to participate in an exchange program with Chinese journalists. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his master’s from Columbia University’s Graduate School for Journalism. He is a two-time Ironman, a two-time Boston marathoner and has climbed the highest mountains in Africa and North and South America.